Comair Take on 1Time Liquidation

South African aviation company Comair has responded to the news that budget airline 1Time filed for liquidation on Friday.

In the process, Comair pointed out that 10 of the 11 independent, private airlines launched in South Africa since deregulation in 1991, have failed, leaving only kulula.com and British Airways, which are both operated by Comair.

“Due to the less efficient fleet it operated, the ultimate closure of 1Time was inevitable,” said Erik Venter, CEO of Comair.

“However, we are certain that in the absence of state-subsidised Mango, 1Time would have made adequate profits to upgrade its fleet and be sustainable over the long term.

Based on the previously released financial statements of SAA, and recent parliamentary comments, Mango made a loss of half a billion rand since its 2006 launch, due to undercutting the viability of the private low cost carriers.” 1Time announced on Friday that it had applied for business liquidation, and that all of its flights had been grounded.

The firm had about R320-million in short-term debt and had been in negotiations with creditors since March.